First kit, think I did bad...

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DavidP2190

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Hello all, a couple of weeks ago I decided to try out a homebrew from a can. I normally do BIAB in 9 litre batches but I wanted to see if I could get anything decent from a kit. Did a bit of research and used a can of coopers pale ale plus a brew enhancer. Now I followed the instructions from here: http://www.coopers.com.au/the-brewers-guild/how-to-brew/ale/coopers-pale-ale but once it was all in the fermentor I noticed a lot of the goop just sitting on the bottom. I thought maybe it will just disolve with time and let it go. Now 10 days later, I had a taste out of the test tube and while it tastes ok, its very watery and there is a lot of goo still sitting on the bottom of the fermentor.
I read the instructions again just now :
  • Place dry ingredients into a drained fermenter and add 2 litres of hot water.
  • Pick the fermenter up immediately and swirl the contents until dissolved - 30 secs.
  • Empty the contents of the can and dissolve
  • Top up with cold water to the 23 litre mark

I'm pretty sure I poured in the can after the cold water....
I take it I should have poured it into the 2 litres of hot water?
And is there anything I can do this late to fix it? It's not a big deal if I can't, a good lesson to reading instructions more carefully in the future.
Thanks.
 
From what you have written, it looks like the kit didn't dissolve properly. You might be able to get it more dissolved with careful stirring, but it'll be difficult
 
peas_and_corn said:
From what you have written, it looks like the kit didn't dissolve properly. You might be able to get it more dissolved with careful stirring, but it'll be difficult
Guess I'll give it a go. Will this mean the yeast start doing their thing again?
 
Yeah, you're definitely meant to mix the can contents with hot, almost boiling, water to get it all to dissolve, only once completely dissolved should you top up with cold water. I can't see any way you'll get it dissolved at fermentation temperatures. I think you're gonna have to write this one off I'm afraid.

It's a shame 'coz I have a buddy who does the Coopers Pale Ale w/ brew enhancer all the time (the guy who got me into homebrewing actually), and it makes a terrific beer. Would have been interesting with the 1275 yeast too.

If you give it another go, the right way 'round this time, will you report back how it comes out?
 
peas_and_corn said:
From what you have written, it looks like the kit didn't dissolve properly. You might be able to get it more dissolved with careful stirring, but it'll be difficult
Guess I'll give it a go. Will this mean the yeast start doing their thing again?

Edit: I'll definitely give it another go. As I said it tasted pretty good. Just watery. I'll report back when I do it properly
 
what was the OG of the batch? that should give an indication as to how much was dissolved... what is the SG now?
 
Yob said:
what was the OG of the batch? that should give an indication as to how much was dissolved... what is the SG now?
I was bad and didn't take an OG. Its 1.011 now.
 
David,

Perhaps your are being punished for undergoing reverse progression as a brewer?

In saying all that, I started with kits and I simply could not get a good one down.
Massive Kudos to those that CAN though... :ph34r:

Note: Hope this post doesn't come across as elitist, not trying to be, and I am not good enough a brewer to be so :p

Cheers,
D80
 
DavidP2190 said:
Edit: I'll definitely give it another go. As I said it tasted pretty good. Just watery. I'll report back when I do it properly
Did you put the can into a pot of boiling water on the stove before opening it? That also helps (a LOT) in both getting the goop out of the can, and dissolving it in the hot water in the fermenter.
 
Diesel80 said:
David,

Perhaps your are being punished for undergoing reverse progression as a brewer?

In saying all that, I started with kits and I simply could not get a good one down.
Massive Kudos to those that CAN though... :ph34r:
Just curious, did you ever use good quality yeast and temperature controlled fermentation with a kit brew? Seems to make a world of difference to many.
 
carniebrew said:
Did you put the can into a pot of boiling water on the stove before opening it? That also helps (a LOT) in both getting the goop out of the can, and dissolving it in the hot water in the fermenter.
No I didn't. I'll remember that for next time, thanks. Might just bottle a few and see what happens. Then start again.
 
Haha missed this. It very well could be punishment, but I figured I should experience as much of the spectrum as possible, even if in the wrong order...that and I was feeling a bit lazy.

Diesel80 said:
David,

Perhaps your are being punished for undergoing reverse progression as a brewer?

In saying all that, I started with kits and I simply could not get a good one down.
Massive Kudos to those that CAN though... :ph34r:

Note: Hope this post doesn't come across as elitist, not trying to be, and I am not good enough a brewer to be so :p

Cheers,
D80
 
carniebrew said:
Just curious, did you ever use good quality yeast and temperature controlled fermentation with a kit brew? Seems to make a world of difference to many.
Sure did Carny, had all the kit to do it right, just kept making slightly malty sodawater.
The best kit I made cost me about $45-50. It wasn't too bad but was hardly economical in a home brew sense.
So I bough Bribie's used bag (when he proclaimed the bucket was the future, some would remember) and haven't looked back since to be honest.

I do have respect for those that can knock out a decent kit brew, it certainly isn't as easy as it is made out to be.

Cheers,
D80
 
You don't need to dissolve the malt extract to get it to ferment. That said though, you would need to have a little sugar in solution to get the yeast to start working. If you had dry yeast floating on top and malt extract on the bottom of the ferment vessel and pure water in between, then nothing would happen.
I used to just pour the can into the ferment vessel, rinse the can out with boiling water which had some hops boiled in it for a bit, fill with cold water and add yeast. I did use a yeast starter though so it got mixed in with the water which enables it to reach the sugars. There was of course some sugars dissolved from the rinsing of the can.
Nowadays I boil the full amount of water and steep some hops. Malt gets dissolved and yeast added when the lot has cooled.
I have only ever made a kit without added hops on one occasion simply to see how it would turn out.
 
hoppy2B said:
You don't need to dissolve the malt extract to get it to ferment. That said though, you would need to have a little sugar in solution to get the yeast to start working. If you had dry yeast floating on top and malt extract on the bottom of the ferment vessel and pure water in between, then nothing would happen.
I used to just pour the can into the ferment vessel, rinse the can out with boiling water which had some hops boiled in it for a bit, fill with cold water and add yeast. I did use a yeast starter though so it got mixed in with the water which enables it to reach the sugars. There was of course some sugars dissolved from the rinsing of the can.
Nowadays I boil the full amount of water and steep some hops. Malt gets dissolved and yeast added when the lot has cooled.
I have only ever made a kit without added hops on one occasion simply to see how it would turn out.
Completely disagree with the first sentence.
The OP's complaining of watery brew and has answered that he didn't dissolve it.
I'd give it a gentle stir to attempt to dissolve the goop, then leave it for another week or two to let the yeast do it's work.
If it's a write-off, at least it's not a huge time loss compared to BIAB.

I definitely cut a lot of corners when brewing Knk, but it's all about experimenting and finding your favourite kits to work with.
 
Well I gave it a gentle mix yesterday(with a very clean stainless mixing stick) and today it looks like there is much less on the bottom. SG went up a bit to 1.014, tastes a little better now, so I'm happy to give it a bit more time before I bottle. Got everything here to do it again, so hopefully it turns out well on the second attempt.
 
Meh, always fermented for me without being dissolved.
 

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